Chapter 498: Exactly How Many Lighters Have You Swiped?

Based on the information provided by the Police, the school quickly located the detailed academic records of that student.

"Comrade police officer, I just checked; the classmate Zhang Hui you're looking for is indeed enrolled at our school. He's just started his sophomore year in the Business Administration department… Shall I notify his counselor and have him come over?"

"No need," Han Fei waved his hand. "Which dormitory building does he live in? We can go directly to find him."

Han Fei thought that if this person were truly the murderer, they must not let him know the Police are looking for him; the best course would be to kill him while he's unsuspecting.

"That works. He lives in Building Eight. You may not be familiar with our school, so let me take you to him."

"Alright, thank you for your cooperation."

"Of course, of course… By the way, I'm curious why you're after this student—what crime did he commit?" the school official pretended to ask casually.

Han Fei shook his head outright; regarding the case, he would never disclose anything.

"We can't reveal that, sorry."

The school official gave a self‑deprecating smile.

"Fine, fine, that was my overstep. I'll take you by campus shuttle to find him."

……

After a short while, the group, led by the school official, arrived at the foot of Building Eight.

"Here it is. He lives on the fifth floor; I'll take you up."

Room 553.

"Knock, knock, knock," Han Fei knocked on the door.

"Who's there?" a voice called from inside. "The door isn't locked; just push it in."

Han Fei pushed the door open, and a cloud of smoke instantly billowed out.

The strong smell of smoke even made Han Fei's old pipe cough twice.

"Close the door while you're at it; the air‑conditioner's on, don't waste electricity," said one of the four seated inside, who didn't even turn their heads, each engrossed in a game, a cigarette clutched between the fingers of their left hand.

"The cigarettes are on the table; help yourselves."

In a male dorm, it's common for visitors without a cigarette to ask for one, and such behavior has become routine.

The four treated Han Fei and his companions as classmates who had finished their smokes and were asking for more; moreover, they were in the middle of a match and didn't bother to notice who entered.

The school official stared at the smoke‑filled room, momentarily dumbfounded.

After a few seconds of staring, he couldn't help but shout.

"Can anyone actually stay in this dorm? The whole place is filled with smoke; someone who doesn't know might think it's a fairyland!"

"The school has repeatedly warned against smoking in dorms—why won't you listen? You're tossing cigarette butts everywhere; aren't you afraid of a fire? Extinguish all your cigarettes right now!"

Hearing that, the four finally realized something was off; the person who knocked didn't sound like a fellow student—his voice and tone resembled a school authority. They turned, saw it was indeed the case, and without hesitation put out their cigarettes.

They even abandoned their game, each standing up.

Upon standing, they saw that among the visitors were not only school officials but also several officers in police uniforms.

The school official, knowing they were there to accompany the officers rather than enforce discipline, didn't continue lecturing the four; he simply pointed at the four students inside and said, "Later I'll have your counselor deduct one credit from each of you!"

In university, penalties for violating school rules are simple: loss of credits.

"Who is Zhang Hui? Step forward," the official added after rebuking the four.

A man on the left‑hand side bed as you entered stood up weakly and replied, "It's me."

The school official gave Han Fei a glance, then stepped back a bit; what followed was no longer his concern.

The next second, Han Fei stepped forward, pointing at the suitcase beside the man's desk: "You just came back from Wan Da Mall, right? What's inside the suitcase?"

"Yeah, on my way back to campus I stopped there to buy some stuff. My suitcase contains… clothes, what's the problem?" he said, not understanding why the officer was asking.

"Just clothes?"

"Umm… also a laptop, but I've already taken it out," Zhang Hui said, gesturing at the notebook on the desk.

"Open the suitcase; we need to inspect it," Han Fei continued.

"Oh, okay, okay," Zhang Hui said while laying the suitcase on its side, opening it, and showing its contents to the officers.

Even though he didn't know why the officers wanted to check his suitcase, he pulled out the few pieces of clothing one by one: "These are my pants, short‑sleeve shirts, socks, underwear—nothing else, just these."

Since it was summer, his suitcase only held summer wear, and because the suitcase wasn't large, it was emptied in a few motions.

The school official, assuming the officers were after something small, said from the side, "What about the pockets of the pants? Check those too—maybe there's something that shouldn't be there?"

Hearing that, Zhang Hui cooperated and began rummaging through the pants' pockets, pulling out several lighters—about seven or eight in total.

Afterward, he even turned the pockets inside out: "That's all that's in the pockets, nothing else."

At that moment, his three roommates stared at the familiar‑looking lighters he'd produced, deep in thought.

No wonder the lighters keep disappearing—this kid… how many lighters has he swiped from them?

In reality, the officers only wanted to see whether Zhang Hui's suitcase contained a male corpse; they hadn't intended to inspect his pant pockets.

Seeing that the suitcase held only clothes and no blood stains, they dropped their suspicions about him.

Han Fei exhaled a sigh of relief; the suspicion on Zhang Hui was cleared, his suitcase had never contained a corpse, indicating that the missing little boy was most likely still alive—a good piece of news.

"A‑and… do you want to check any other places?" Zhang Hui's Adam's apple bobbed; it was his first time ever being visited by police, so he was understandably nervous.

Han Fei waved his hand: "No need, we just wanted to see what's in your suitcase. Sorry for the intrusion."

"We have other matters, so we'll be leaving now."

The case wasn't finished yet, and the officers had no time to linger; after a quick greeting, they prepared to leave and continue the investigation.

"Comrade police officer, let me see you out; the campus is big, I'm afraid you'll get lost," the school official called after them.

Just as the group turned to leave Room 553, a voice shouting "Bring them to justice!" rang out from inside.

"Old Three, tell us—when did you develop this habit of swiping other people's lighters?"

"I'm telling you, how can I buy a lighter and just toss it away? You damn kid just swiped them all from me?!"

"…"